Fourteen-year-old Nick Salter (Scott Jacoby) lives in LA with his mother Janet (Hope Lange). He cannot understand why his parents divorced. During the summer he visits his contractor father Doug Salter (Hal Holbrook) and his much younger "best friend" Gary McClain (Martin Sheen) in San Francisco. Gary moves out temporarily in order to keep Nick's possible suspicions at bay. Eventually Doug tells his son the truth, encouraged by Janet to reveal to Nick that he has a gay lover. Nick is filled with shame and disgust, and runs away. Once reunited with his son, Doug attempts to explain his sexual orientation and alternative lifestyle to him, with mixed results.
Originally broadcast as the ABC Movie of the Week on November 1, 1972, "That Certain Summer" was the first TV film to take a mature and somewhat uncritical approach to the subject of homosexuality. Like many "firsts", the film seems a bit timid when seen today. Emmy-winning writers Richard Levinson and William Link were forced by the network to include short speeches describing the gay life as something of a sickness. In an interview with the Dallas Voice, Martin Sheen said, "I thought it was wonderful. There was a great deal of freedom in it because it wasn't about advocating a lifestyle or a sexuality. It was about two people who adored each other, and they weren't allowed to have a relationship that involved their sexuality." Holbrook said, "I was an actor clearly not afraid of controversy...Anything that would make the audience think was worthwhile...That's a good reason for being an actor, when you can do something decent that touches people's hearts and their minds, so you feel like you actually accomplished something." Directed by Lamont Johnson.
